Certified Life Coach.org & Coach - What is a Champion?...

The athlete in me sees an Olympic gold medalist. Or the winners of the World Series. Or a state championship team.

In other words, the athlete in me sees a person or team who wins and experiences that intoxicating feeling of conquering the competition. Of being the best.

At least that?s what I used to see. Until I made the transition from athlete to coach and from jogger to marathoner.

When I first started coaching high school softball, I saw a team of athletes that I wanted to turn into champions. To me, that meant beating the competition. Winning games.

But I had a problem. I saw them as athletes, competitors who wanted to be pushed to their limits to win games. So I pushed them. And they resisted. Because I didn?t take the time to figure out who they were as people. I didn?t take the time to figure out what they wanted to accomplish that season.

It was a frustrating, miserable, losing season at the end of which I decided I never wanted to coach again.

Those girls didn?t become champions because I didn?t understand what a champion really is.

Deciding to run the marathon was difficult because I knew with my super slow Schaefer speed that I had no chance of winning. None. Why would I want to compete in something where the chances of me winning were zero? It didn?t make sense to me to want to run. Because I wanted to be a champion. I wanted to win.

Then at the end of one of my training runs, it hit me. I wasn?t competing against the other runners. I was competing against me. As long as I finished that marathon, I would beat me. Because 26.2 miles was a longer distance than I had ever run before. And because it was a dream of mine.

Therefore, a champion is someone who pursues a dream or goal or objective?no matter how big or how small. A champion is someone who focuses on the process of becoming a winner rather than actually winning.

This article courtesy of http://www.certifiedlifecoach.org.
You may freely reprint this article on your website or in
your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author
name and URL remain intact.

Economic Growth Continues - More Than 5.3 Million Jobs Created Since August 2003
On June 2, 2006, The Government Released New Jobs Figures – 75,000 Jobs Created In May. The economy has created about 1.9 million jobs over the past 12 months – and more than 5.3 million since August 2003. The unemployment rate fell to 4.6 percent – lower than the average of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

Revised Report Shows Fastest Real GDP Growth In Two-And-A-Half Years. Real GDP grew at an annual rate of 5.3 percent for the first quarter of this year. This follows our economic growth of 3.5 percent in 2005 – the fastest rate of any major industrialized nation.

Productivity Increased At A Strong Annual Rate Of 3.7 Percent In The First Quarter.

Real Hourly Compensation Rose At A 3.2 Percent Annual Rate In The First Quarter.

Personal Income Increased At An Annual Rate Of 6.7 Percent In April. Since January 2001, real after-tax income has risen by 12.9 percent, or 7.3 percent per person.

Real Consumer Spending Increased At An Annual Rate Of 5.2 Percent In The First Quarter.

Employment Increased In 47 States Over The Past 12 Months Ending In April. Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 41 states in April.

Industrial Production Increased 4.7 Percent Over The Past 12 Months. Over the past 12 months, manufacturing production has increased by 5.5 percent.

This Week, President Bush Nominated Henry Paulson As Treasury Secretary. Paulson has an intimate knowledge of financial markets and an ability to explain economic issues in clear terms. For the past eight years, Paulson has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Goldman Sachs Group, one of the most respected firms on Wall Street.

The President Has Expanded Tax Relief And Is Working To Make His Tax Relief Permanent. Two weeks ago, President Bush signed into law a bill that extends the tax cuts on dividends and capital gains. This legislation also contains an Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) patch enabling millions of middle-income families to avoid paying higher taxes in 2006.

The President’s Tax Relief Has Helped Spur Growth By Keeping $880 Billion In The Pockets Of American Taxpayers. The Administration reduced taxes for every American who pays income taxes, doubled the child tax credit, reduced the marriage penalty, created investment incentives for small businesses, and put the death tax on the road to extinction.

Growing The Economy And Reducing The Deficit Depend On Controlling The Spending Appetite Of The Federal Government. Every year since the President took office, the Administration has slowed the growth of discretionary spending that is not related to the military or homeland security. The President's last two budgets cut discretionary spending that was unrelated to the military or homeland security, and we are on track to cut the deficit in half by 2009.

If The Emergency Supplemental Bill – Which The President Has Requested To Help Fund The War On Terror And Hurricane Recovery – Includes Non-Emergency Or Wasteful Spending Or Exceeds The President's Set Limit Of $92.2 Billion Plus Funding To Prepare Our Nation For A Pandemic Flu Emergency, He Will Veto It.

In The Long Run, The Biggest Challenge To Our Nation's Budgetary Health Is Entitlement Spending On Programs Such As Social Security And Medicare. We call on members of both parties to join us in a bipartisan commission to address this critical issue.

The President Will Continue Working With Congress To Restrain Spending In Other Ways, Including Passing A Line-Item Veto. A line-item veto would allow us to cut needless spending, reduce the budget deficit, and ensure that every taxpayer dollar is spent wisely – or not at all.